Car-door.



No. 839,648. v PATENTED DEC. 25. 1906. H. L. ROGERS.

GAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1905.

2 S RTE-SHEET 1.

' 81 nae/"(701.

No. 839,648. PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906'.

H. L. ROGERS.

' CAB. DOOR.

'APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 25, 1905.

$1 wanton UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

CAR-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1906.

Application filed February 25, 1905. Serial No. 27,38'7.

To all whom it 77mg concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY L. Roonns, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in OarDoors, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The invention relates generally to improvements in doors for freight orother cars, and more particularly to means for supporting or mountingthe door with relation to the car to permit its convenient closing andopening.

The main object of the invention is to provide suitable hangingmechanism for the door arranged to be operated to move the door flushwith the car side in closing the same and to shift the door bodily intoa plane beyond the car side to permit the opening operation of the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the door maybe readily locked in opened position, which means is also adapted tofrictionally lock the door at any position intermediate the fully-closedand fully-opened positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction by whichthe door when fully closed is securely locked at its top, bottom, andintermediate point.

Another object of the invention is to construct and arrange allmechanism so that the operating-levers thereof move in a plane parallelto the side of the car, whereby unnecessary projecting parts are avoidedand the minimum of space required for the manipulation of the mechanism.

With these objects in view the invention, broadly stated, consists in adoor supported at its upper end in a pivotally-mounted track, whichtrack is adapted to be turned from a normal position to bodily projectthe door into a plane flush with the car side or into a plane parallelwith but beyond the car side, brackets arranged adjacent the bottom ofthe car-door and adapted to lock the same in closed position or inopened position, and means intermediate the track and brackets to lockthe door in closed position.

The preferred details of construction of my invention will be fullydescribed in the accompanying specification, reference being had to thedrawings herewith, in two sheets, inwhich Figure 1 is a view inelevation, showing a portion of a car, the door thereof being providedwith my improved operating mechanism, the door being shown in closedposition. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the door being shown locked inopened position. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the car side, showing thedoor and operating parts. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical longitudinalsection illustrating the track and door-hanger. Fig. 5 is a trans versesection of the same. Fig. 6 is a trans verse longitudinal sectionthrough the door and a portion of the car, illustrating the intermediatelocking mechanism for the door. Fig. 7 is a broken sectional viewillustrating a feature of the door construction. Fig. 8 is a perspectiveview of the supporting and looking bracket. Fig. 9 is a brokenperspective of the lower portion of the door, showing particularly thestiffening-brace and the channel formed between said brace and the doorfor the discharge of water flowing down the surface of the door.

Referring particularly to the drawings, 1 represents the car body orside, and 2 the door, arranged to fit flush within the casing 3.

It is highly desirable in the car-door construction that the door shallwhen closed rest within the casing flush with the car side in order toavoid undesirable projections beyond the car-body and also that inopening the door the same shall he moved lengthwise of the car in aplane beyond the side thereof.

I have provided particular mechanism for accomplishing this result, inwhich 4 represents a track arranged lengthwise of the car and slightlyabove the upper end of the door 2. The track comprises a hollow box-likemember having a narrow aperture 5 in its lower wall which communicateswith the in terior section of the track. The aperture 5 is of less widththan the interior of the track member to provide shoulders or ways 7 adjacent said aperture 5, designed to receive and support the door-h anger.At the rear end that is, the end remote from the door-openingthe trackis pivotally supported in a bracket 8, secured to the side of the carthrough the medium of a stud 9, projecting from the track and enteringan opening or bearing 10 in the angle-web 11 of the bracket. Theconnection between the stud 9 and bearing 10 is a comparatively looseone to permit the hereinafter-described movement of the track. Theforward end of the track is also side of the car.

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ed with the stud 12 beyond the link 13, depends from said stud and isconnected at its lower end to a rod 16, adapted for vertical slidingmovement with relation to the car through the medium of a hand-lever 17,pivoted to the car side at 18 and connected to said rod 16. The lever,as will be evident from the drawings, is adapted for movement in a planeparallel to the side of the car and is arranged to be held or locked inoperative position by a spring-catch 19, a stop 20', ar-

ranged adjacent the catch, serving to limit the throw of the lever inthis direction. By

reference the stop 20 is of the usual staple form, whereby the ordinarylock and seal, connected with the stop and encircling the arm of thelever, may be used when desired.

The door is supported by hangers 4, cornprising hinged members, one ofwhich is secured to the door, the other projecting through the aperture5 in the track member and carrying at its free end guide-rollers 5,arranged to rest upon and travel lengthwise the ways 7 of the trackmember.

For supporting and locking the lower end of the door when in closedposition I provide brackets 21, secured to the car side immediatelycontiguous the lower corners of the door. These brackets are of peculiarconstruction and adapted to secure the lower end of the door in closedposition and at the same time afford an effective brace and support forthe door-posts. Each of the brackets include a base-plate 22, whichprojects at right angles from the face of the car side, and a verticalwall 23, projecting above and below the base at the inner edge thereof.That portion of the vertical wall lying below the base is designed to bebolted to and snugly against the longitudinal sill of the car, whilethat portion of the vertical wall projecting above the base is securelybolted directly to the door-posts, it being understood that the sidingcovering the side frame of the car is cut away to permit thisarrangement of the brackets. The base-plates 22 are each provided at thecentral portion of their outer edges with a vertical web 24, andimmediately in rear of this web and on the upper surface of thebase-plate are arranged transverse or rearwardly-extending ribs 25,which ribs project rearwardly beyond the base-plate and are adapted tooverlie and rest directly upon the car-sills, the flooring of the car orthat portion thereof immediately beneath the door being cut away topermit of the rearward projection of the ribs. The blocks 25 are reducedat their rear ends to provide shoulders or stops 26, which shoulders arein alinement with the outer surface of the car side and serve as stopsor looks behind which the lower edge of the door is held when in closedposition.

The third bracket 27 is secured to the car side in horizontal alinementwith the brackets 21, this latter bracket being positioned at the limitof travel of the door when opened and being formed with a right-angleverticallyprojecting web 27, within which the corner of the door isreceived to limit its movement.

To look the door intermediate its upper and lower edges, I provide aT-lever28, pivotally connected about centrally of the door, and to thefree end of each short arm 29 of this lever I connect asliding bar 30.The free ends of the bars 30 are formed with latches 31, preferablyintegral with the bar and offset therefrom, as shown, said latchesworking in a recess 32, formed in the edge of the door and covered by anordinary metal housing 33. Keepers 34 are formed in the edges of thedoor-posts, being arranged to conveniently receive the latches 31. Thelever 28, as will be evident from the drawings, operates in a planeparallel to the face of the door and is designed to beheld ininoperative position by a catch 35, and locked in operative positionthrough the medium of such other structure as may be found desirable.The strip extends upward on the face of the door sufficiently far toprevent rubbing contact of the door and brackets in the necessaryoperation of the parts and is further designed to serve as an outlet andconveyer for any water which may run down the surface of the door andwhich would otherwise tend to speedily destroy the lower edge of thedoor proper. To accomplish this object, a narrow channel 39 extendslongitudinally between the brace 38 and the extreme lower edge of thedoor proper, this channel being open at its end and intermediate the endin communication with small openings 40, formed in the brace-strip. Bythis means any water finding its way down the face of the door willenter the channel 39 and escape through the openin s 40 or through theend of the channel and out through vertical openings 41, formed in thebrackets 21 and arranged to directly underly the ends of said channelwhen the door is in closed position. The bracket 27 is also formed witha vertical opening 42, which, together with a second opening 43, formedin the intermediate bracket 21, registers with the open ends of thechannel to permit escape of the water when the door is in openedposition.

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Assuming the parts constructed and arit will be seen that the lever 17is within the catch 19 and against the stop 20, and that the track isrocked from its normal position to move the hanger, and thereby the doori11- Wardtl1at is, within the casing flush with the side of the car. Thelower end of the door, it will be noted, rests in rear of and againstthe stops 26 of the brackets 21, the

lever 28 being also in vertical position, which projects the bars 30outward, forcing the latches 31 into their keepers 34. In this positionof parts the door is closed and is locked at top, bottom, andintermediate point. When desiring to open the door, the lever 28 ismoved from its vertical position to and in engagement with the catch 35,in which po sition the latches 31 are withdrawn from the keepers 34 andthe intermediate lock is released. The lever 17 is now released from thecatch 19 and swung downward until its free end is practically in contactwith the web 24 of the contiguous bracket 21. By this movement the rod16 is elevated, mov. ing upward the arm 15, and thereby the track 4; butas the latter is pivotally mounted at each end its upward movement tendsto practically rock the track on its main axis, the door being hung fromthe track in a plane between the pivot of the track to link 13 and theinner pivot of said link 13, thus causing the track to rock and carrythe door out of the doorway, and thereby cause the track to assume anormal position, which is, with the aperture 5, at the lowest part ofthe track and the lower wall of the track member practically at rightangles to the face of the car side. This operation of the track, it willbe noted, raises the door, through the connection of the track with thepivoted link 13, and this elevation of the door withdraws its lower edgefrom behind the stops 26. In conjunction with the elevation of the doorthe turning of the track on its aXis moves the upper end of the dooroutward from the doorcasing, and as the lower end of the door has beenwithdrawn from the rear of the stops 26 the entire door will by gravityswing into a vertical position which is in a plane parallel to butslightly beyond the side of the car. The door may now be moved rearwardon the track 4 through the medium of the hangers, such movement beingcontinued, if de sired, until the door contacts with the rear bracket27, it being noted that the movement of the door longitudinally of thetrack is materially assisted by the elevation of one end of the track.In this position the door is fully opened, and if it is desired to lockthe door in this position the lever 17 is again moved to operativeposition to turn the track, which operates to slightly lower the doorand bind the same against the side of the car. In lowering, the forwardedge of the door drops below the side edge of the rib 25 on theintermediate bracket 21, and the door is thus securely held against anylongitudinal movement whatever. A reversal of this operation will serveto again seat the door in its casing, as

will be understood.

It will be noted that when adapted for longitudinal movement the loweredge of the door moves slightly above'the rib 25 of the intermediatebracket 21, and by this construction I am enabled to frictionally securethe door at any point desired intermediate its fully opened and closedpositions, as it is only necessary when the door has reached the desiredposition to operate the lever 17 to tilt the track into inoperativeposition when the door will drop into frictional contact with the rib 25of the bracket 21 and be held against longitudinal movement.

It will be noted that the door is provided with the usualoperating-handle 44 and that the side of the car has the usuallimiting-stop 45 for the central portion of the door. To protect thetrack against the elements, I prefer to partially cover the same with ahood 46, connected to and supported from the facing of the car, with itsfree end overlying and extending below the track, as shown in Fig. 8.

vHaving thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is 1. Incombination with a structure having a door-opening, of a door therefor,means for movably supporting the door and connections intermediate saidmeans and the structure, whereby said means may be moved fropi thedooropening and elevated at one enc 2. The combination with a structurehaving a door-opening and a door therefor, of a track for movablysupporting the door, and means for moving the track in a direction awayfrom the door-opening and elevating one end thereof.

3. The combination with a structure having a door-opening and a doortherefor, of a track movably supporting the door, and means for tiltingthe track from the dooropening and elevating one end thereof.

4. The combination with a structure having a door-opening and a doortherefor, of a track pivotally supported by the structure, and means forrocking said track in a direction away from the dooropening andelevating one end thereof.

5. The combination with a structure having a door-opening and a doortherefor, of a track pivotally supported by the structure, and meansconnected with the track and adapted by a single operation to move thetrack away from the door-opening and elevate one end thereof.

6. The combination with a structure having a door-opening and'a doortherefor, of a track pivotally supported at one end by the structure,and means intermediate the opposite end of the track and the structureand adapted for operation to move said end in a direction from thedoor-opening and elevate it in a plane above the opposite end.

7. The combination with a structure havi11 a door-opening and a doortherefor, of ho iding means for securing the lower end of the door inthe door-opening, a track movably supporting the upper end of the door,and a connectlon between one end of the track and the structure adaptedon operation to move the track in a direction away from the door-openingand free the lower end of the door of the holding means, said connectionsimultaneously elevating one end of the track.

8. The Combination with a structure having a door-opening and a doortherefor, of a track pivotally mounted at one end in a fixtureprojecting from the structure, a movable member pivotally supporting theoppothe door and movable alon the track, and

means for rocking the trac on its pivotal connections in a directionaway from the door-opening and elevating said member, whereby the end ofthe track supported by the member is moved to a plane higher than itsopposite end. i

9. car-door havin a stiffening-brace at its lower end, a channe formedin said brace intermediate the lower edge of the car-door and the brace,and openings formed in the brace to communicate with said channel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. HARRY L. ROGERS. Witnesses:

JOHN L. FLETCHER, DAVID W. GOULD.

